


A Good Foundation

by DarkJediQueen



Series: Steter Week 2020 [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Dead Cora, Dead Derek, Dead Scott, Dead Sheriff, Happy Ending, M/M, Most Everyone but Stiles and Peter dies, Steter Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:08:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25567975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: It felt like it was the end of the world, not the fire and brimstone one but the one where the world just stopped. The trees were covered in snow and Peter wasn't sure if he wanted this to be where Stiles was or not. It looked so desolate and barren but he finds that the area is teeming with life in it's own way.
Relationships: Stiles Stilinski/Peter Hale
Series: Steter Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849420
Comments: 10
Kudos: 193
Collections: Steter Week 2020





	A Good Foundation

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : Future  
>  **Spoilers** : Everything  
>  **Notes** : For Steter Week 2020 July 28th Picture Prompt.  
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

It had been years since anyone had come to Stiles' cabin on the lake. The world was covered in white, so no one ever went this far into the woods unless they were hunting, and the hunters who came into this area stayed the hell away from him and his lands. The last people who had come looking for him had done so out of desperation. The long-standing rumor that anyone who came to find the Winter Witch as they liked to call him was killed and dumped into the lake to feed his pets. 

While there were things in the lake that Stiles had found from around the world that needed to be cared for. Some of them went home when they were better, but others stayed with him. The lake was massive, and while he made sure that his pets were fed, none of them ate humans. It was hard on their stomach. The only one that ate anything close was the sea serpent who liked about a deer a week. Otherwise, it snacked on the plant life in the lake as it was an omnivore. 

Stiles felt the wards trip, but it wasn't uncommon for those wards to trip. It was the outer set that was literally at his boundary lines for his land and the land around it. Hunters did sometimes slip over in the area where the trip happened. It was hard to see the lines in the winter when everything was as snow-covered as it was, especially since the sun had already started to go down. Stiles went back to the book he was writing. While his work as a fixer for magical issues made sure that he never had to work again, he got bored sometimes in winter, so he wrote high fantasy books. He could churn put ten thousand words in a day when there were little issues with his charges, so it wasn't hard for him to put out a book a month during winter. 

Dinner was in the oven, and the bottle of wine that Stiles wanted to drink was waiting on him for when dinner was made. He lost himself in the words again. It was fun, just letting his words spew forth from his mind. It always helped to calm him down when his mind didn't want to stop. Stiles just loved writing, and he was glad that he had picked it up when he had moved out here into the middle of a forest that was overcome with animal and plant life, and he was the only person living there. It was better than being in the middle of a city where people wouldn't leave him alone. 

The wards pinged again. This person was moving closer, and they were doing it at a fast pace. There were three miles between the first and second boundary and whoever it was had done that in eight minutes. The fastest that a mile had been run by normal humans was three minutes and forty-three seconds. The person had crossed the wards and hadn't been in a vehicle of any kind as Stiles would have known that. Machines pinged the wards differently. He knew that he was dealing with a supernatural. 

"Lee, get to the lake, tell everyone to hide," Stiles said before he held out his hand, and the backdoor opened. Lee took flight, launching himself out the door as soon as it was open enough. Lee was an Ice Phoenix, a rare breed of an already rare species. Stiles had found him the day that he had toured the cabin to know if he wanted to buy it and the massive land that it sat on. He had seen Lee in a vision he had induced when trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He knew that he had found where he wanted to live. He had bought the land then and set about making sure that no one would ever find him there from his old life. 

Stiles hadn't thought that anyone would really be looking for him, but Scott might get it in his head that Stiles needed to be killed. 

Grabbing his staff and putting on his boots, Stiles stepped outside and shut the door behind him, locking the cabin down. He jumped off the railing and down into the two feet of snow. The snow flew away from him as he landed, his boots repelled it. It helped hide his movements as he stepped back, the snow was fully back where it had been. It had taken him six months to get the spell work correct on the boots. It had saved his life twice so far when Hunters had come to take out the Winter Witch. 

Finding the trailed edge of his wards, he stabbed his staff down and felt along the ley lines that arced out of his point of convergence right where he had laid the trails of the lines. He felt that it was a werewolf who was already badly injured and that the Werewolf was an Omega. There was not a single bond on him. That meant that trouble was heading his way. He heard Lee's call, and then the bird was on his shoulder. Lee was the main reason that he was called the Winter Witch, well that and that his land stayed snow-covered even when everything else was in summer. It was part of the convergence of the ley lines in the area and Lee's control on the land. Human scientists sometimes heard about it, but when they got there, they found nothing and turned back home without seeing what was really there. Stiles protected his land. 

The Werewolf tripped his wards another two times in faster and faster succession. Just as he went across the last, Stiles frowned. He wasn't tripping any of the wards that would stop him, that meant he meant no harm. That was something that Stiles was intrigued about. When the Werewolf was about a mile away from him, Stiles flipped his hood up, and it masked his face from anyone seeing it. With Lee on his shoulder and his staff in his hand, he was scary. He knew that. 

Stiles nearly pulled the hood down when he saw the blood-matted Werewolf come to a stop. The blood was old, and Stiles wasn't sure if it was the Werewolf's or whatever he had killed. The face was covered in hair, and Stiles wasn't sure what the man looked like. He was not in his Beta shift despite what Stiles could feel was a lot of anger, grief, and fear coming off of him. 

"Why are you trespassing? The wards would have told you to turn back." 

"I seek sanctuary, I've heard that it's offered here."

"Yes, to creatures not to beings," Stiles said.

"I am the last of my family, the last of my Pack. They were slaughtered in front of my eyes before the Alpha tried to come for me. I killed him and everyone that helped them, and then I ran." The voice was something that seemed like Stiles should know it, but he didn't. 

"Lie," Stiles said. He knew that the wolf was an Omega and not and Alpha Omega. 

The man flashed his blue eyes at Stiles and then dropped to his knees. He looked like he was on his last leg. 

"One of the Betas tried to bargain for their life. He told me secrets that the Alpha had forbidden him from talking about. How the Alpha had lured in a man to try and turn him to him instead of his son. How heartbroken the son was, and then when the son had left, he had made sure that the man was killed. It was made to seem like a work accident, but it wasn't. I've been hunting the son, but Hunters are now on my trail, and I need help. I don't want to die before I find him." The wolf's eyes rolled up into his head, and he face-planted in the snow. 

"Lee?" Stiles asked. 

Lee rubbed into Stiles' cheek, and there were images of a bloody fight and then two bodies on the floor. The dead eyes looking up at him had Stiles rushing to the wolf's side. He rolled him over, using the snow to clean off the blood from his face. It was fresh but still dried, so it wasn't hard to remove. He cast a spell to remove the hair from the cheeks, and then the slightly older face of Peter Hale was looking at him. Peter had found him looking for safety without realizing that he was the person that he was looking for.

"Tell everyone that it's safe. I'll deal with the wolf, and he'll probably be staying."

Stiles felt Lee lift-off, and another image came to Stiles' mind.

"Yes, I am sure that I can trust him. He has nothing left, his niece and nephew are dead at the hands of a True Alpha, which is how he wasn't able to take the Alpha Spark, he wasn't part of the Pack, and that spark can only be transferred down the Pack. Just keep most of them away. Peter's view of the world doesn't include a lot of what I have here."

Stiles looked around and spotted Jerry at the edge of the trees. He was pure white ad blended in with the snow, but Stiles knew him well enough. He knew that the difference was between his fur and the snow.

"Wanna help me out?"

Jerry growled and came running over. He picked up Peter carefully.

"He can be put in the tub in the master bathroom. Then can you see about getting me something to feed him with? He's going to want a lot of meat. If you wanna use the fire, you can skin it and keep what you want."

Jerry let out a lower growl that was one of pleasure. Stiles laughed and watched him running off to hunt whatever he could find. Jerry was a great hunter, and he helped keep Stiles in meat for just the skin of the animal. Stiles would tan it, and it would be added to the pile that Jerry had in his cave for him and his mate to cuddle on at night. Jerry's mate didn't like leaving the caves, so once a week, Stiles went to him to check on him. It worked well for all of them, and Stiles liked to talk to them both, even if their growls were hard to understand sometimes.

Stiles cleaned up the blood from the snow and made sure that the wards closed and block all traces of Peter's passage. He had no clue who had attacked him, but they were probably following him. He tried to push away what Peter had told him. Peter had kept names out of it, but Stiles knew enough of the players to understand what he had tap-danced around. The McCall Pack was at least mostly dead, and yet there was no feeling of sadness. Scott had taken his father away from him, turning his father to where he couldn't look at Stiles anymore. It was why Stiles had gone to college across the country, only to find out that his father fell in the line of duty, and no one had told him. That had hurt Stiles a lot to come home for spring break to find out that his father had been dead for a month, his stuff from the house put into storage for him to pick up the next time he was in town, the house sold. He hadn't been able to attend his father's funeral. 

The Deputies had been pissed when he had shown up at the station but soon realized that while Scott had told them that he would tell Stiles, he never had. Then he had lied to them that Stiles refused to go to the funeral. His life had been ripped apart then. Stiles had sued the hell out of Scott and his mother for executing his father's will without contacting him as the Executor. It hadn't got him a damned thing, but he had gotten a little satisfaction that Melissa had to sell the house and move into an apartment to get enough money for the legal fees and her own lawyer. Melissa had lost her job at the end of it and had to find a new one, but not in the medical as no one trusted her to do her job after she had done what she had done. Scott had continued to go to college and then work for Deaton. 

It was all over now. Stiles had debated going back and killing everyone that had been part of it, and now he regretted not doing it. Scott had killed Derek and Cora, and it seemed, tried to kill Peter but had just enraged Peter to kill everyone else. Scott should have learned the lesson that the Argents had, that Peter didn't take his family dying well at all. Stiles would check in with the Sheriff's station in Beacon Hills. He hoped that Parrish was alive, but if he had followed Scott's plan to murder the Hales, then Stiles hoped that Peter had killed him in the worst way possible. 

There was nothing else for Stiles to do outside, so he headed into the house. Jerry had left Peter right where Stiles anted him, and he assumed that he was out and about finding an animal or two to bring back. Stiles had some meat in the freezer, but it was all frozen, and thawing it with magic made it taste weird. Stiles watched Peter as he slept, his body giving into exhaustion. The tub was magical and wouldn't allow water to drip out of it. It was kind of nice since it always didn't allow water to last on the body when it was moving through the field. Stiles did have towels, but they were used for messes or if he was set from summer storms on the outer areas of the land that did actually have seasons. Stiles found a few of the towels and laid them out on the floor for Peter to lay on after Stiles got him cleaned up. 

The bath didn't take long after Stiles got rid of Peter's clothes. The magical properties of the tub cleaned Peter and Stiles didn't have to touch him. Stiles used it for when he was too tired to move around after hard rituals or spells that just left him drained. There were no scars on Peter's body, and the blood came off easily. His hair was longer than normal, so when Stiles got him out and laid him down, he trimmed his hair. 

Peter was sleeping fully now, his mind knowing that he was safe. Stiles figured that he had been on the run for a while. 

The feeling of someone on an ATV crossing his wards told Stiles that someone was coming for Peter. He wondered who it was. He kept his cloak on and waited for the person on his porch. Lee was resting on the stand that was there for him, and Stiles made sure that he was hidden until the person stopped at the edge of the trees. He got off of the ATV, and Stiles found that it was Blake. Blake was the local Mountie for the area. He checked in with Stiles a few times a year to make sure that everything was going smoothly. The man was a Werewolf.

"Stiles," Blake said as he got close. 

"What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for someone who was seen in the area. A Hunter has a call out for him."

"Why?" Stiles asked as he slipped his hood off so that Blake could see him fully.

"His Pack was killed off, and the Sheriff of a place called Beacon Hills is looking for him to make sure that he is fine. He's worried about him and wants to connect him back to someone he thinks would take care of him."

"Who is the Hunter, and who is the Sheriff?"

"The Sheriff is a man named Roberts, I didn't catch the first name. The Hunter is Chris Argent. He's not like the other Argents, I promise."

"Is he here?" Stiles asked.

"He's back a the station. I told him that he didn't want to come out here."

"Bring him out in the morning, and I'll see what I can do about the werewolf that he's hunting." 

"Sure thing. He's a little rough around the edges, but he's got his protegee werewolf. He's a good Hunter."

"Sure, thing. Come for breakfast, both of them. If Argent wants to keep his pet Werewolf way, tell him I won't help. Do not give my name."

"I've just been calling you Winter Witch, I promise."

"Good." 

Blake turned and left, and Stiles watched him go. Isaac was still with Chris, and that was a good thing. 

Peter was still asleep when Stiles entered the bathroom again. Stiles laid his hand on Peter's chest and used the magic inside of him to figure out what was going on with him. He found that Peter was exhausted. He felt safe here, and his body was forcing him to sleep. Stiles grabbed onto the bar on the wall for towels when he stumbled as he stood up. Peter would need to eat, and he would need to eat a lot when he woke up. Stiles had a lot of work to do. 

* * *

Stiles looked out at where the three ATVs were coming up. Peter was inside asleep again. He had woke in the middle of the night, and Stiles warmed up some of the deer that Jerry had snagged for him. He had eaten nearly all of the meat that Jerry had gotten off for him. 

Blake was in the front with Chris and Isaac behind. Neither of them was geared up that much, so Stiles figured that they hadn't come to hurt anyone. 

"Christopher Argent, Isaac Lahey, you are most welcome on my land as long as you never harm anyone who lives here. The lake is off limits as to you going inside. There are things in there that would rather eat you than play with you. There is a sea serpent in there that was being controlled by Hunters, and she developed a taste for werewolves. She won't eat you if she knows you, but I don't feel like letting her get to know you yet," Stiles said as he made sure that his voice was masked. Isaac and Chris knew it well enough that if they heard him without it, they know it was him. 

Isaac looked good. He looked strong, and he looked happy. Chris was older but still looked to be in shape. It looked like they were doing well. Stiles was glad. He hadn't really thought about them. 

"Tell me about this wolf you are chasing," Stiles said.

"May we go inside? I'm not a wolf, and this cold is...harsh," Chris asked.

"Of course, I have hot chocolate if you would like some, and breakfast is in the oven cooking. It's very cold out this morning.

"Thank you," Chris said. 

The trio walked up the stairs and stood in front of Stiles. 

"What should we call you?" Isaac asked.

"Winter is fine."

"I had a friend once who loved a character from books called Winter. She was badass and also really nice. She grew up beside Leia," Isaac said.

"Ah, I know of whom you speak. I do love the original expanded universe for Star Wars novels. I was actually named by locals. I take the name that they gave me, and I love it. I protect them easily, and they love me back for it."

"Thank you for allowing us into your territory." Chris sat down at the table where Stiles waved him to, and Isaac sat beside him. Blake took the seat that was left, putting Chris and Blake on either side of him. 

Stiles got the casserole out of the oven and scooped out large portions for Isaac and Blake while getting smaller for himself and Chris. There was coffee on the table already as well as glasses of water. 

"So, what happened?" Stiles asked.

"Do you know of Beacon Hills?" Chris asked.

"Nemeton had a few Pack issues over the years. Was mostly stable after a few years, but then something happened, and it went to shit again." 

"Yes, the Hales came back to try and help settle the area, but no one can figure out what went wrong."

"It was the death of Sheriff Stilinski. The Nemeton was centered on the Sheriff, the son tamed it and helped it, and when the Sheriff died, the Nemeton went crazy. The son was able to calm it for a little while, but the connection was gone."

"Why haven't you done anything about it?" Chris asked.

"I don't need to. The Nemeton is defending itself. It was trying to kill off the Pack that broke what it considered its family."

"What?"

"One of the McCall set up the Sheriff to die. They chased out the son and then killed the Sheriff. The Nemeton would have ripped them limb from limb if it could."

"How do you know?" Chris asked.

"Because he's always had a connection with the Nemeton," Peter said from the doorway.

"Peter," Chris said. He moved to stand up, but Lee flew into him and knocked him back into the chair. 

"Christopher. One of McCall's little Betas told me everything. They hoped to make sure that Stiles never came home when they killed Noah. They didn't understand at all what they had done when they did that. Instead, they created something that wanted to kill them for no other reason than they had broken the Nemeton's last nerve. So then the Nemeton called us home. Scott hoped that we knew what was wrong. Derek told him what was wrong as the Nemeton went to him for protection. When Scott was controverted with what he had done, he killed Derek and Cora with wolfsbane coated blades. They tried to kill me, but I killed them instead. If you are here to take me, just kill me."

"No, we are not. I was making sure that you were fine. I have no reason to take you in. The crimes were high when Parrish went in and found the bodies. It was evident who had the blade and who made that killing first. Beacon Hills has taken too much from the Hales. I wanted to help you settle."

"I like it here."

"You can't stay here. I thought maybe you can find Stiles. No one has been able to track him. I worry about him as well."

"Why?" Stiles asked.

"We found the paperwork dealing with the cause of Noah's death. It was there in black and white. Deaton confused the hell out of Scott. Naming Stiles as the whole reason behind why the Nemeton had gone nuts. That when he came after his father died, he had cursed the Nemeton, and it was going to kill every person in Beacon Hills. Though we found that it wasn't the case. There a been no supernatural attack since Scott and his Pack were killed." 

"And you want to what? Take the boy in and be his father like you did this one?" Stiles pointed at Isaac. He looked at him next. "You looked better with scarves."

"What?" Isaac asked.

Stiles flipped back the hood. "I didn't know until Peter told me last night that Scott had my father killed. He's lucky I never found out before now. I would have flayed him in the middle of the streets. Though, of course, that wouldn't have endured me to the people. I would have left anyway. So, now you know why I don't show my face anywhere. So you two are welcome to stay. Blake, they will be fine here."

"You didn't tell me you knew them," Blake said.

"I had no reason to. You didn't need to know. I don't let just anyone know."

"You set the Nemeton free on them? Seriously?" 

"No, I did not. I told it to protect itself. What else would you have it do? It was being killed off. I gave it what it needed. It did die by the way. Beacon Hills will never attract any other Supernatural again. It split itself apart and fed into each of the Nemetons in the world. They will shelter it and heal it, and then here in the middle of my lands in Canada, it will spawn a new one. I'll protect it like no one has ever protected a Nemeton before, outside of King Arthur. He died protecting the Nemeton that was in his area of the British Isles because it was what Merlin commanded him to do."

"And you plan to keep Peter here?" Chris asked.

"I do. He needs protection, as well. The locals who are in the know call this place my Home for Wayward Supernaturals." Stiles looked at Peter. He looked better, stronger. Peter nodded his head at Stiles and walked around the room to settle at Stiles' back. They hadn't talked a lot yet, but Stiles figured that it would come when Peter was feeling back to normal. Which could take days given how utterly drained he had been. Peter was stronger than he had been at the base back when Stiles had last known him, which meant that he had a long way to go to get back to where he was. Jerry was hunting more animals so that Stiles wouldn't have to do so. Stiles could, but he didn't want to leave Peter alone. At the moment, even his Beta shift was impossible, so that meant he had nothing to defend himself with. Just because Chris was the first to arrive didn't mean that there were not other Hunters setting out to find Peter.

"Just check in with Parrish, please. Let him know that Peter is safe. You don't even need to tell him that he is with you, just that you have friends that are protecting him," Chris said. 

"Why do you care so much?" Stiles asked.

"Christopher and I became friends of sorts. He checked in when he was in Seattle, where I was staying with Derek and Cora. When we had issues with Hunters who tried to break the Code, he dealt with them in ways that would never come back on us." 

Stiles looked at Peter as he spoke. He had fine muscle tremors going on. "Isaac, up."

Isaac got up, and all it took was Stiles looking at Blake for him to move to that seat and leave the one beside Stiles for Peter to drop down into. Isaac disappeared into the kitchen area and came back with a plate of the casserole for Peter. 

"Thank you," Peter said.

"You are welcome." Isaac moved to stand behind Chris. He didn't look scared, just worried as he looked at Peter. 

Stiles knew that Isaac had to be mourning his Pack. None of them were alive outside of Stiles and Peter, even if Peter was at the edges back then. None of them were left. "Isaac, what are you doing right now?"

"Just going with Chris as he checks in on the various Hunter families around the country and makes sure that none of them are breaking the Code and training others who want to follow the Code and do it well. Why?"

"I would like you to stay here. I have friends that will gladly help me keep Peter in fresh meat, but I want to train you up in a few things. Chris is human and has no spark of magic; all Supernatural creatures do, but it manifests in your shift and abilities. I can teach you to use that spark inside of you to recognize magic and where it's coming from. You will get a sense of if the magic is hostile or peaceful and the intent of even the hostile ones. Like, maim, kill, subdue. It'll help you guys greatly. It should take about three months, it may be longer, or it may be shorter. If Chris will give you up for that time. Chris, if you want to stay, you are more than welcome, but I know you are mostly a nomad at the moment."

"Do you have the room for three? I would not be opposed to staying at least for a week or two," Chris said. 

"There are two levels below this ground floor, and that's where most of my rooms for working magic are. This up here is nothing but bedrooms. Even my office is down a level. I'll give you guys a tour at some point."

Chris nodded and looked at Isaac, who nodded as well. 

"Lovely," Peter said. He picked up Stiles' coffee and took a drink of it. 

Stiles laughed, but there was no cup for him at the table. Stiles waited until he set it down again before he filled it up and waved at Peter to drink it. Peter held out the cup like a cheers and then took another sip before digging into his food again. He was hungry, so the talk from him was few and far between as plans were made for the Hunter duo to stay. 

"Do I need to rent an ATV or two?" Chris asked.

"No, those are actually mine," Stiles said.

"Really?"

"Yes, Blake keeps them at his place as it's the main funneling point to get people here, but the long many mile trek through the woods is not the best idea for most of those who come to me. So I have ATVs for them. They run off magic, collecting sunlight and turning it into energy in a much better fashion than solar panels do, and during the full brunt of winter when the sun isn't shining as much, they are kept charged by the wind."

"Deaton told Scott that you would never amount to anything magically, and it was why he never trained you."

"Deaton wanted to keep me from figuring out that he had nearly destroyed the Nemeton. The more powerful I became, the more I felt it. Please tell me that you killed him," Stiles said as he looked at Peter.

"Technically, no, I did not. I left him alive, his stomach ripped apart but not enough to kill him quickly, just enough to attract predators." Peter looked smug.

"He did die from a Coyote attack. The rest of the deaths are being blamed on a serial killer that had moved through the area. He had been through once before, and the deaths at the Mill by Gerard attributed to him as well. The FBI helped cover all of that up, had a fake shootout, and killed someone who was just a visual mirage. Then the body was taken in, and the report faked. He was a random drunkard who had died on the streets who had been in and out of jail for minor charges but had been escalating. It was the best once the full brunt of what had happened was found out by the FBI."

"Rafe?" Stiles asked.

"Yes. He's...sickened by what his son had done. Everything that Scott, Melissa, and the rest of the Pack had was converted to money, sold off at auction as none of them had a will and most had no family, or if they did, Rafe talked to them about what they had done and what the price of silence was. It all went into a fund to help the families of fallen Beacon Hills Sheriff's department family members." Chris looked sick himself as he finished off his coffee like it would help him get a handle on everything.

"A very good cause. I'm glad that it was given a good bit of money. I need to get some work in, non-magical. Lee will gladly show you around the house and then out into the grounds. Lee, do not be an asshole and push Isaac into the lake as a joke."

"He's done that before?" Isaac asked. He looked at the bird with a lot of fear in his eyes.

"Of course he has," Blake said.

"I'd already introduced Ness and Blake, so Ness just played with him."

"And Ness is the sea serpent?" Chris asked.

"Yes, she named herself. I read mythological stories to her when she was getting used to the area and me, and she latched onto stories about Nessie."

"What kind of work are you doing?" Peter asked.

"Writing. I publish high fantasy stories. My magic doesn't need a lot of training anymore, and since it's the dead of winter, I don't have as many people coming to find me to give them help, so I have to pass the time. You are more than welcome to lounge around, Peter. I can put on headphones instead of my sound system so that my music doesn't bother you. My desk is over there." Stiles waved toward where the desk was sitting. It looked out over the lake. His laptop was portable, and he wrote on it a lot, but he also did write on the desktop. "You can even use my laptop if you need to check in with anyone, take care of any business. I can create you a separate section if you like, or you can use mine. It's not like I couldn't figure out if you were ordering a hit on me." 

Peter laughed, and his eyes were twinkling. 

* * *

Stiles grabbed the cup of coffee that was pored for him on the counter beside the coffee pot. Peter's and Isaac's cups were gone, so that meant that they were up and about. The cups were spelled to keep the coffee warm enough to drink based on what each of them liked. Chris' cup was hanging up on the wall behind the pot since he wasn't there. He was off dealing with an issue that had popped up in Arizona between the Hunter family, who controlled the state and the Calaveras. Stiles had offered to go with him, but Chris had said that it wasn't needed. Stiles checked his phone to see that Chris had checked in like he was supposed to. Stiles laughed as he also saw that Isaac had been an asshole in the Discord that Stiles ran to keep in contact with his friends across the world. It was secure and much better than a forum on a website. Stiles did have a website that was hidden from most, but Discord was more secure. No one could invite anyone in other than Stiles, but there was a place to ask to join on his site. 

The laptop was booted up and outside on the warmed porch, so Peter had been on it doing something before he had gone down to do whatever the hell he was doing outside. The house was empty, even Stiles' magic didn't need to tell him that. He had a good sense of when his house had one of the three people living with him and when they were gone. Stiles sat down in front of the laptop and woke it up with a touch to the touchpad. Stiles saw that Peter had closed everything down, so he opened up Chrome and went right to his Discord. He needed to check over the massive amounts of messages that had popped up over the night. He laughed as the letting off steam channel popped up first. It must have been the last thing that Peter had been looking at before he had closed it down. Stiles logged out of Peter and into his own profile. 

There were less messaged than normal waiting on him, and he saw that most had been answered by Peter. Having him help as a moderator had come with a few good perks that he hadn't even thought of before, like where he answered questions to things that he knew. The only time that Stiles added to the discussions that Peter had was if he had something else to add that was actually needed. Peter was still getting to where other people there would trust him. It was easy to help him without making him feel like he was an idiot. Peter did know a lot, and he was more than willing to share it with those in need. Stiles laughed at one of the discussions that Peter had started about Banshees until he remembered Lydia.

Stiles had never asked who was part of the Pack, who had died. No one had offered it up. Parrish was alive, but Stiles had no clue about Lydia. Stiles closed the lid on the laptop and grabbed his coffee before moving to the railing. The lake was calm. That meant that Ness was most likely still asleep. Despite her size, she didn't make too many waves, but Stiles could see her moving below the surface since she liked being nearer to the sun when she was moving around. Tonight was the full moon, and they would be all out and about. Stiles would probably spend most of the evening near the edge of the lake. His newest charge was a Selkie, and she was just as charged about the full moon as the other Shifters were. Stiles had not told anyone about her, they just thought she was a seal who had wandered into the lake and lived there, despite the lake being freshwater. Stiles was pretty sure that Peter thought that she was something other than a normal seal. This was the first full moon for Peter and Isaac here, and Stiles wondered how well they were going to do with the fact that the moon affected everything in his lands more than it normally did. 

Peter and Isaac came out of trees at the edge of the woods. They looked content to be around each other. Peter took walks when he woke up and after getting his coffee down. It was his quiet time. Isaac would meditate when he could settle his mind. Seemed like today had not been a day where he could so he had instead just gone with Peter. They were not talking, or at least they weren't at the moment. 

Stiles watched them as they headed toward the lake, and Stiles saw that Peter had a brace of rabbits in his hand. Stiles laughed as Peter started to throw them out into the water. Peter and Ness got along well, which was good. Stiles was looking forward to the first time that Ness kidnapped him for a swim in the spring when the lake warmed up. Stiles drained his coffee and then headed down to where Peter dropped down to sit beside the water. The water never froze, even in the depths of the actual Canadian winter, and the ground was warm enough all year round that the werewolves could swim in the lake with no issue. Stiles could only do it in summer without magic to help him. He liked to swim sometimes in winter, though, and learned how to protect himself. Stiles laughed as Peter hauled off and shoved Isaac into the water. Where they were, there was no easy way for Isaac to get out as it was a small overhang. 

"You are an asshole," Stiles said he dropped down into the spot where Isaac had been.

Isaac came up sputtering, and before he could start to swim, Ness was there and helping him by catching him and dropping him onto the snow above the overhang.

"Thanks," Isaac said. He petted Ness' tail as it dipped back down into the water. Isaac looked at Peter, and if looks could kill, Peter would be dead. "I guess I am heading inside to get warm. I'm lying in front of the fire naked." 

"Have fun!" Stiles yelled. Isaac had walked in on him like that after one of his swims, and so Isaac knew that Stiles didn't really care.

"He was being a brat."

"And you were the cause of that at all," Stiles deadpanned. 

Peter shrugged. He looked out onto the lake. "So, what exactly do you do for fun?"

"Well, it depends. The closest town has a nice pub that I love to go to when I want human companionship that isn't online. Or I'll drive a little further and hit another town and go dancing. I don't do it often as I don't want anyone to connect the Winter Witch with Stiles Stilinski. I hold dual citizenship to both Canada and America. It's quite nice to just go sometimes. I'll post up online that I'm taking a few weeks off and that only severe emergencies are to be handed off to me for help. I have a few people that monitor the Discord and the site. Why?"

"I'm getting cabin fever is all. So do you have to be here to train Isaac?" Peter asked.

"Nope, why?"

"I want to empty all of the Hale vaults scattered around the country. I want to make sure that I have everything protected. There are a few cadet branches left, but they can easily contact me for everything they need. It's mostly books that I want. We can see what you have already and leave those behind or combine all of the Vaults into one with what you don't have or what I don't want to take."

"Where is the closest to here?"

"Seattle."

"Then we can hit that one last. I have a Winnebago. I can make sure that everything fits in the back using some storage containers that can hold pretty much everything I would ever want to put in there. We can use one for books or two if we want to divide between what we have already and one for the ones we are bringing back—another for magical items, one for biological items. I've seen the inside of the one in Beacon Hills. I know there is some weird shit in there. No one in the family is going to have an issue with this?"

"Most of them don't use the Vaults. They don't like them or something. I don't know. But I'm essential the patriarch as I am the last of the mainline. So I do what I want. There is some money, but we can give that to the local people when we pull it out. Bonds like had been promised to use for the dead pool. It was the best way to hide the money in ways that no one would ever get their hands on them and make it easy to move around. Cashing out bonds was pretty easy, especially spread around the country. Buying them was easy, as well. We were a very wealthy family, and wealthy people do eccentric things. It's not that out of the realm that they would have stashed all of their money like that."

"It's smart. Traveler's checks are the way to go now. They never expire. We can convert some of the funds to that if you want."

"Eh, we shall see. So what are you planning for today's fun?"

"Nothing. That spell work I did last night means that I need the day to recharge, and Isaac's been going at it hard. I thought we could head into town and find a place to eat. The locals haven't seen me in a while, and I figure they are worried. There is a place that does amazing things with food. I wanna show it to you both." Stiles leaned over, a chill coming over him. Peter wrapped his arm around Stiles' shoulder and rubbed his hand up and down the upper part of Stiles' arm.

"Why are you so cold?"

"Magic depletion. It's not too bad, but I always feel colder. I'll be fine with rest. You can drive it. My car is at the same hub where the ATVs are kept."

"Car not Winnebago?" 

"Both but they are more hidden. They are kept up to date by magic, making sure that lines don't rot, and the tires and battery don't go bad, especially in the cold. We can head out after breakfast. Then do some shopping and such. You are nearly out of the clothes that fit you on a not destroying them front. Do you have access to money?"

"Yes. I have access to money. I can use my credit card and transfer funds from my bank account to pay for it."

"Good. So let's go eat."

* * *

Stiles heard Peter making noise as he entered Stiles' bedroom. Stiles watched him as he moved around the foot of the bed. It had been a week since Chris had come back and picked up Isaac, and Stiles thought that just being with Peter would have felt weird, but so far, it didn't. It felt right to just be them. Two very jaded men who had nothing left in the world but their will to live. Stiles wondered if Peter's want of revenge had fully died out or he was just biding his time. Technically, part of the blame could be laid on Stiles. He had left Beacon Hills behind and hadn't thought about it. Letting the Nemeton do what it wanted. He hadn't meant for Scott to go insane like he had. He never would have left if he had known that the Hales were going to be a target. 

Peter stopped by the window and looked out. It was another full moon, but they had already done what was needed to help Peter's wolf calm and the rest of the supernatural beings and creatures on Stiles' land. Peter was just in the sleep pants that he had changed into after they had eaten a midnight snack before going to bed. Stiles never did anything the day after the full moon, so it didn't matter how long he slept. 

"What do you want?" Stiles asked.

"I want a lot of things, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to bring it up."

"Okay, and you need to do it now?" Stiles asked. He threw the covers off his body and sat up in the bed to look at Peter better.

"My anchor has been my family for a very long time. Even after the fire, and coming back to life, my anchor was Derek and Cora. I could have gone even more insane than I had gone after I woke up from my coma when they died. I've tried to figure out my anchor since arriving here, and today when I was meditating by the lake, I realized that my anchor was mostly the same as it always had been, but my wolf latched onto one thing and one person. The last person of who I considered to be my Pack. I wasn't chasing some fantasy thought of the Winter Witch when I got here. I was, and I wasn't. I was following my heart."

"To me. The last of your Pack."

"Even though you were gone, we all three thought of you as Pack. Derek mentioned it more than once that after he let go of his anger that you were his anchor. The kid brother he never got to see grow up. I didn't think much of it until last night. You are my anchor. More than that, you make me feel safe. You make me want to be a good man even though I know I am not. I don't kill without reason, though."

"Just like I don't. I've killed fifteen people who have tried to enter my lands with ill intent to those that I protect. I run this place for those who can't protect themselves or shouldn't need to. So what do you need?"

"Can I sleep in bed with you?" Peter asked.

"Always." Stiles knew that there was more to what Peter wanted than that, so he let him get used to it.

As soon as Peter settled into the bed, Stiles let himself fall back asleep. He didn't need to stay awake to make Peter feel like he didn't want him in his bed. 

Morning came early, and Stiles slept through it. It was nearing noon when he opened his eyes. He could tell by the position of the sun outside of his window. The glass didn't let any actual light beams in, but the warmth did come through. Stiles loved it. The spell had taken him three months to get right. Peter was a band of heat at Stiles' back, and his arm was over Stiles' stomach. Stiles kind of liked it. He hadn't had overnight lovers. When he had an itched that needed to be scratched, he went to town, found someone, fucked them, or had him fuck him, and then he left. 

This was something vastly different, and really Stiles didn't know what he fully felt about it. He wanted to have it forever but was also very scared of it. There was a lot to unpack from both of them. They had over a decade of difference in age. Peter wasn't nearly as old as Stiles' father, but he was closer to Stiles' mother's age than Stiles' age. It wasn't a deal-breaker for him. He didn't mind having someone older than him. It wasn't like people his age could understand and deal with the trauma that he had been through, outside of active service military or a veteran. If they had seen war. 

Yet there was something inside of Stiles that pulled him to Peter. He wanted to be around him, and having him here had felt less intrusive than it had with Isaac and Chris. He had enjoyed the two men, but he had needed a lot of time to himself, even when he was writing. Peter could sit and read or do his own work on whichever computer Stiles wasn't using, and it felt good. Just existing with Peter felt better than anything had in a long time.

Stiles hadn't been happy in years. He had been content, but he thought that maybe with Peter, he could be happy. Stiles stayed where he was with Peter breathing on his neck. There was a very small height difference in them, but Peter wanted to press his body all along Stiles'. This could be something he became addicted to, Peter sheltering him in his arms. 

Nightmares had gone way years ago with the help of magic as he worked through all of his trauma. It was something that Stiles had worked himself through as soon as he realized that he could. It was better than paying someone or finding someone that he could talk to without being shipped off to the loony bin. Stiles wondered if it would help Peter if he had issues that he needed to work through. He wasn't sure how that worked for werewolves. None of the materials he had talked about the mental health of werewolves. Though if there was someone who needed help getting his head on correctly, it would be Peter. 

Peter moved, his body getting even closer to Stiles. Stiles was kind of shocked not to have an erection pressing into his ass, but then again, Peter needed comfort, not sex. Stiles smiled though when he felt Peter waking up, pulling Stiles even closer. It was good to know that he was a comfort for the man.

"You smell enticing," Peter said, and his hand around Stiles splayed out on Stiles' belly. It kept him where he was, and he didn't mind it. He knew that if he pushed to get away, Peter would do so. "I would rip apart anyone who sets themselves up to hurt you."

"I feel much the same. How do you feel?"

"I feel wonderful. Best night of sleep I've had in a while. When do you have to get up?"

"Whenever the hell I want. Everyone can feel themselves, but I do have a friend coming this afternoon with a group of fish for the lake. While they do well at breeding, there are still more things that eat them than they can keep up with, so I get fresh stock when needed. I've got a spell on the lake that helps the beings inside, not eat the ones who are fertile for breeding. It's a delicate balance."

"Hmm." Peter rubbed his nose and lips back and forth across the back of Stiles' neck. He settled after that, and after a few minutes, Stiles realized that Peter was asleep again. Stiles settled in, though, and just laid there. It felt good to just laze in bed. He started to think about a few things and, after a while, was nearly fully asleep again. 

Lee screeching into the room had Stiles sitting up in bed and making Peter grunt as he was woken up again.

"Well, the fish are here," Stiles said. He held out his hand, and a pair of jeans landed in them. He slipped them on, looking down to realize that he had been naked the whole time. It was how he slept most nights and hadn't thought a single thing of it. He was really shocked that Peter hadn't taken a few liberties with that. Peter was thankfully still in his sleep pants, so Stiles was happy about that. He laughed, though, when he saw that Peter was really upset about being woke up. 

"Do you need me?" Peter asked.

"No. You can shower and get ready for the day, and I'll be fine. I'll head back inside and get changed. We can head into town. There are paths that we can head that we can go on the ATVs the whole way."

"Good. I hate driving and kind of feel like being out in the woods for a while. Dinner?" 

"At the good place that you like."

Peter smiled at Stiles and got off the bed. He walked around to where he could pull Stiles into a hug and pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

Stiles hummed as he did so before he wrapped his arms around Peter, keeping him close. It was something, a good foundation for something that would turn into something great later. Stiles was good at waiting. It made things all the sweeter.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story! 
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot. 
> 
> Check out my two Quantum Bang fics that went live this June.  
> Teen Wolf's [Fail. Try Again. Fail Better.](http://quantumbang.org/fail-try-again-fail-better-by-darkjediqueen/)   
> Criminal Minds' [The Ache for Something More](http://quantumbang.org/the-ache-for-something-more-by-darkjediqueen/).


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